Bitcoin and the Arts: An Interview with Artist and Composer, Zoe Keating

George Howard
, ContributorOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I've now written two columns focusing on crypto currency (dominantly Bitcoin) and its potential utilization in the arts generally, and music specifically, to engender better tracking and transparency.

These articles have generated conversation, but I'm left with a strong sense that - while many people (a lot of whom profess to be experts) have very strong ideas and opinions about the relative merits and possibilities of crypto currency - there are depressingly few direct examples of the utilization of this technology affecting change with respect to transparency or accounting in art/music.

What compounds the difficulty in terms of pinpointing use cases is that - unlike other emergent technologies (Virtual Reality, etc.), crypto currencies (mostly Bitcoin) are aggressively traded. As such, many thoughts put forward with respect to usages (current or imagined) must be viewed skeptically. One must wonder, for instance, if the person who champions a particular currency-related use case is doing so because he stands to financially benefit; i.e. they might be holding a lot of Bitcoins.

All caveats aside, my enthusiasm for crypto currency remains high, even while specifics around use cases in the arts is cloudy. I thought it wise therefore to bring in another voice — a voice I know to be transparent and trustworthy - to the conversation to discuss this topic.

I imagine it's this combination of musical brilliance and the embracing of technology/transparency that led Ms. Keating to being invited to The Blockchain Summit held at Richard Branson's Necker Island that just ended (here is a video of the Blockchain Summit, with Ms. Keating’s music as the score).

I asked Ms. Keating some questions about this experience, and her thoughts on crypto generally, and her responses (edited only for grammar and clarity) are below. I urge you to read the entirety of Ms. Keating’s responses; they are the most clearly articulated on this topic I’ve yet to see.